


Our Hands Interlacing

by Who_the_hell_is_Tre_Cool



Series: 5 Seconds of Soulmates [2]
Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Polyamory, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-09
Updated: 2020-06-09
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:26:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24624700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Who_the_hell_is_Tre_Cool/pseuds/Who_the_hell_is_Tre_Cool
Summary: '“Mikey look,” Calum holds out his arm, directing him to look at his soulmarks. The name ‘Selena’ with the neat red line has now been scribbled out. Above it, in the same writing as the previous name, it reads ‘Fletcher’.“Huh,” Michael runs his fingers over the red marks, “Did she change her name?”Calum frowns a little, “Maybe they’re not a she anymore. I don’t think Fletcher is a girl’s name.”“It’d be a really badass girl’s name,” Michael says, before yawning. “Talk later, sleep now,” He mumbles, tugging Calum back down.'---Your soulmate's name, in their handwriting, is tattooed on your body.
Relationships: Luke Hemmings/Ashton Irwin, Michael Clifford/Calum Hood, Michael Clifford/Luke Hemmings/Calum Hood/Ashton Irwin
Series: 5 Seconds of Soulmates [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1567261
Comments: 10
Kudos: 76





	Our Hands Interlacing

**Author's Note:**

> Wrote this in a few days, not proofread, came completely out of nowhere.
> 
> I read a soulmate au with the same trope and it got me thinking what happens if the person changes their name? So I decided to write it.

When Michael is ten, his mother sits him down and tells him about soulmates.

“You have a name on your skin in someone else’s writing,” she says, and Michael listens, “That’s the person you’re destined to be with. But Mikey, you’re very special, okay? You have three names.”

Michael looks down at himself, where he knows the writing is hidden beneath his shirt.

“Some people are going to be mean to you because they don’t understand,” She continues, “but you shouldn’t listen to them, okay?” He nods. “It’s nothing wrong or shameful, it just means you’re capable of loving more than one person. It’s something beautiful.”

She takes him to the park later, a special treat, and he runs around the play equipment and helps a younger kid climb the rock wall, and resolutely does not think about the three names across his tummy.

###

He meets Calum first.

It’s their second year of high-school, and Michael’s been more focused on fitting in than he has on finding his soulmates.

But their first History assignment requires them to be in pre-assigned pairs, which Michael is absolutely not looking forward to. He zones out when the teacher starts reading from her list, only listening when he hears his name.

“Michael Clifford, you’ll be with... Calum Hood.”

Her list continues, and Michael stops listening again, glancing around the class. He doesn’t know who Calum is, but the name seems familiar.

When the teacher sets them free to make a start, Calum comes to him.

He sits down beside him, unceremoniously dropping his belongings on the desk, and says, “You’re my soulmate.”

“Huh,” Michael responds, oh so intelligent, “I thought your name sounded familiar. That’s cool.”

Calum smiles a bit, but looks slightly worried, “Not to like, alarm you or anything, but I’d better tell you cuz it’s pretty hard to hide but uh. I’ve got two other soulmates besides you.”

Michael just grins, which clearly isn’t what Calum was expecting, and says, “That’s okay. Me too.”

###

They meet up at Calum’s house later that week, and once again completely ignore the project in favour of talking about soulmates.

“Do you have the same names as me, then?” Calum asks. Michael’s sprawled across his bed, looking up at the foam stars stuck to his ceiling that no doubt glow in the dark.

He lifts his head, “Huh?”

“Like,” Calum sits beside him, “If we’ve all got the same names, maybe all four of us are meant to be together, like, together.”

“What’re your names again?” Michael asks, shuffling to sit up. Calum holds out his arm so he can read the three different writings on the inside of his arm.

Michael’s own name is there in his messy scrawl. Next to it, in slightly smaller, curlier scrawl is the name ‘Layla Hemmings’. Beside that, neat print reads ‘Selena Irwin’, except there’s a red line through the first name. Michael frowns at that.

“Hey Cal, one of your names is crossed out.”

Calum’s eyebrows furrow in confusion, and he looks at his arm, “What does that mean? Is she dead or something?”

“I don’t think the universe would be that cruel,” Michael chews his lip, “Besides, it’s only the first name crossed out, not the second.”

“Is yours crossed out?”

Michael lifts his shirt, “I can’t see mine very well. Is it?”

Calum nods, “Yeah. But hey, at least we’ve got the same names. That means we’re all meant to be together.”

###

A few weeks pass, they get their history project finished, and Selena’s name stays crossed out.

It’s Michael’s birthday when something changes. He’s had Calum over all day, eating pizza and cake and playing FIFA, and at the end of the day they crawl into bed together and curl up close.

They haven’t really broached the subject of their relationship yet, everything still new and confusing, but they’re both pretty physical with their affection, sometimes loud and unabashed, sometimes quiet and private. They lay together in the dark, whispering and giggling until they fall asleep.

It’s late enough to be considered early when Michael wakes up to a searing pain across his stomach.

Calum jolts awake beside him, clutching his own arm, and Michael flails until he manages to turn the lamp on.

“What the fuck?” He groans, and Calum echoes the sentiment.

Eventually, the pain eases, and Michael feels like he can breathe again.

“Mikey look,” Calum holds out his arm, directing him to look at his soulmarks. The name ‘Selena’ with the neat red line has now been scribbled out. Above it, in the same writing as the previous name, it reads ‘Fletcher’.

“Huh,” Michael runs his fingers over the red marks, “Did she change her name?”

Calum frowns a little, “Maybe they’re not a she anymore. I don’t think Fletcher is a girl’s name.”

“It’d be a really badass girl’s name,” Michael says, before yawning. “Talk later, sleep now,” He mumbles, tugging Calum back down.

Calum laughs softly, but allows it, throwing his arm over Michael’s waist, his other hand slipping under Michael’s shirt to pet at the skin where his own soulmarks are.

Michael falls asleep feeling warm.

###

It feels like years pass in the blink of an eye, but soon Calum and Michael are finishing school.

It’s their first night as fully graduated adults, and Michael feels a strange sense of nostalgia when he wakes up in Calum’s arms to the feeling of his soulmarks burning.

Calum is already awake when Michael rolls over and buries his face in his chest with a whine.

They sit up, Michael hitting the lamp, just like he did before, and Calum holding out his arm. This time, it’s ‘Layla’ that gets crossed out, although it stays a neat, red X, and above it, the name ‘Luke’ is written.

Michael expects the pain to stop at that, but it continues, until the name ‘Fletcher’ has changed as well, now reading ‘Ashton’. Only then does the pain die down, and Michael sags against Calum.

“Man that fucking hurts. “

Calum just laughs, “Don’t be a baby. Hey, do y’reckon that they’re together? Our other half.”

Michael hums in response, “maybe. If they both changed their names at the same time maybe they helped each other out.”

“It’d be nice, I think. For them to not be alone in this.”

###

Michael and Calum manage to move into an apartment in the city after a few years.

It’s not an ideal set-up. The apartment is cheap, obviously so, and Michael’s working night shifts so they don’t see each other as much as they’d like to, but they make it work.

It’s four am and Michael’s just gotten off work, dropping by the supermarket to pick up some cereal. He heads down the aisle only to find a boy struggling to reach the top most shelf, up on his toes, reaching up as far as he can. The boy isn’t short, probably around six feet tall, but the item he wants looks to be a little further back, just barely out of reach.

Michael watches him for a moment, and notices the writing across his shoulder, visible thanks to his tank-top. He squints slightly, focusing on the words, definitely more than one name. There’s a red line through one, similar to Michael’s own, but he can’t make out what they say from this distance.

Eventually, the boy notices Michael’s presence and turns to face him. He seems to debate with himself for a moment, before sighing.

“Hi, sorry, do you think you’d be able to get that for me?” He looks shy, but also tired, and Michael remembers it’s four am.

“Of course mate,” Michael offers him a smile, and the boy grins back.

“Thanks. It’s not like I’m short, but man the guy who put those up there must’ve been a _giant_.”

Michael grabs the cereal for him, some incredibly specific brand that he’s never heard of, and hands it over.

He turns back to the boy, “Hey, this may be a weirdly personal thing to ask a stranger at four am, but I couldn’t help but notice your soulmarks.”

The boy seems to close up a little, as if preparing himself to be shouted at, and Michael quickly continues.

“I’ve never seen anyone else with more than one mark except my soulmate, we’re both waiting for the same two other people. And I also saw one of your marks had a red line through it, which ours also have. I’m Michael, by the way.”

The boy frowns a little, “Is your last name Clifford by any chance? I’m Ashton Irwin.”

Michael laughs, a little too loud for the time and place, “Man, I’d be way more excited about this if I wasn’t so fucking tired. I assume your other marks are Calum Hood and Luke Hemmings?”

Ashton nods, slowly smiling, “Yeah, yeah they are. Me and Luke live together, about a ten minute walk from here.”

“Same for me and Cal. Wow, this is cool. Cal’s gonna be so mad I met you first. Can I have your number? I wanna arrange a time for us all to meet up.”

They exchange numbers and finish shopping together, before heading off in opposite directions, both giddy with happiness.

###

They arrange to meet at a café later that week, and Michael spots Ashton instantly when he and Calum step inside.

Next to Ashton is a blonde boy who must be Luke, he and Ashton sat close together, bodies angled towards each other like they’re in their own private bubble. It makes Michael’s heart feel warm.

He and Calum take the seats opposite them, and Ashton immediately beams at them, showing off his absolutely adorable dimples. Luke looks fairly shy, but offers a small smile.

They order food and drinks and talk about random things for a while, the conversation easy as if they’d been friends for years.

Soon, Calum puts his drink down and says, “So what’s with the name changes and the red lines and stuff?” He holds out his arm, the easiest of their soulmarks to access, and Ashton winces.

“Sorry about that,” He says, “I didn’t realise the scribble would hurt so much. I just really wanted my deadname to be completely erased off the face of the earth.”

Michael tilts his head in question, “Deadname?”

“Me and Luke, we’re both trans. When we first met, neither of us had really settled properly. I’d changed my name as soon as I realised something was different but it was more of a transition name, to get myself used to things.”

“Ashton helped me figure myself out,” Luke speaks up, “And I helped him pick a proper name. That’s why our names changed at the same time.”

“Must be hard,” Calum muses, fiddling with the table cloth, “Since society is so centred around the names on our skin. Changing your name must feel... weird.”

Ashton nods, features coloured with relief, “It sort of felt like we were going against fate.”

“I like to think of it more as deciding our own fate,” Luke adds, and Ashton smiles.

“Yeah, I guess so.”

**Author's Note:**

> The ending was cringey as hell but who fucking cares they're in lov that's all that matters.
> 
> I hope yall liked it, come find me on tumblr @ mastasof-ravenkroft if u wanna come hang out.


End file.
